Cats are innate masters of physics. They can leap extraordinary distances to climb things or while hunting. They have split second reflexes to catch their prey. And apparently, they can’t get enough of the kind of desktop physics toy you get your office mates as a Christmas present.
In this video, a calico cat displays curiosity about one of those swinging-ball desktop toys that you have most definitely seen, and it proves to be just as distracting for her as it is for anyone else using it as a distraction from work. Ah, cats. They’re just like us.
The calico cat casually lifts up a ball then lets it drop, watching with interest as the momentum makes the entire toy click and clack back and forth.
Related: Calico Cat Obsessed With Hair Ties Fights Epic Tug-of-War Battle with Herself
How a Newton’s Cradle Works
The toy is this video is known as a Newton’s Cradle, and operates on the principle of conservation of energy and momentum. If you haven’t played with one before, the construction is simple. Heavy metal balls are suspended from two thin wires held up by parallel bars. At rest, these balls all touch each other, but if you were to pull one back and let it smack against its neighbor, it causes the ball at the other end of the row to fly outward. If you were to swing two balls, then two balls would swing out on the overside, and so on.
The cat knows nothing about the laws of physics, but she obviously thinks this is fun.
“I swear all cats are physicists,” says one person in the comments section. “I mean, look at the way they casually push stuff off ledges just to watch it fall.”
“My cat does this but she also chews on the strings so I have to keep it up,” someone says in the comments.
“Sir Isaac Mewton,” jokes another one. In fact, many of the people in this comment section are assuming that the cat is a male, which is almost certainly incorrect, because the cat int his video is a calico cat. With few exceptions, calico cats are female.
Are Calico Cats Always Female?
Calico cats are not a breed of cat, but rather a particular coloration, defined as a cat with orange, black and white splotches on their coat. Calico cats are almost always female, due to the way that coat colors work on cats. The genes determining whether a cat has an orange or black coat are located on the X chromosome, and exhibit co-dominance. Therefore, a female cat, who has two X chromosomes, with one copy containing the gene for orange coats and one copy the gene for black coats, will have a coat that is both orange and black. A male cat cannot be both orange and black unless he has an extra X chromosome, which is exceedingly rare, or exhibits chimerism.
Additionally, the gene for having white patches of fur on your body is located elsewhere. Any cat can have white patches, but a cat with all three gene markers will be a tricolor, or calico cat. Calico cats are the “state cat” of Maryland, due to their similarity in appearance to the Maryland state flag.
Looking for more PetHelpful updates? Follow us on YouTube for more entertaining videos.
Or, share your own adorable pet by submitting a video, and sign up for our newsletter for the latest pet updates and tips.
